- Email: [email protected]
DPoint licenses Ballard humidification technology
FCBMay
14/06/2006
09:53
Page 6
NEWS Because traditional fuels are expensive in Japan, and because DFCs can generate high-efficiency electricity on renewables like ADG, they hold an important competitive advantage in the Japanese market. There are approximately 200 sites in Japan that produce sufficient ADG to generate 250 kWe or more from DFC power plants. Contact: FuelCell Energy Inc, Danbury, Connecticut, USA. Tel: +1 203 825 6000, www.fuelcellenergy.com Or contact: Marubeni Corporation, New Energies Team, Utility & Infrastructure Division, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Tel: +81 3 3282 3943, www.marubeni.co.jp Or contact: Japan Institute of Wastewater Engineering Technology, Toshima-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Tel: +81 3 5951 1331, www.jiwet.or.jp
Architectural alliance to reinvent H2 stations
T
he Connecticut architectural firm AG/ENA has formed the ARRC/H2 Alliance, a multi-company initiative to conceptually develop AG/ENA’s innovative design for a prototype Hydrogen Fueling Station/Information Center. The ARRC/H2 Alliance, comprising Shell Hydrogen, Hydrogenics, Frey-Moss, Forum Lighting, Signstrut Milwaukee and AG/ENA, recently launched the project at the Center for Architecture in New York. Six consulting firms are providing services to the Alliance, and there are plans to add more members. Envisioned in a park-like setting, the Alliance’s prototype hydrogen station features a unique, one-way circular traffic pattern that enables drivers to gain quick and easy access to fueling dispensers and safer, more convenient access to retail spaces. Other innovations include environmentally sustainable construction – such as the use of recycled materials, water and energy efficiencies, reduced site disturbance and other sustainable features. The design will also incorporate an information center displaying a hydrogen car and exhibits to foster public understanding and acceptance of hydrogen fuels.
Contact: ARRC/H2 Alliance, c/o AG/ENA, New Canaan, Connecticut, USA. Tel: +1 203 966 4910, www.arrch2alliance.com
UltraCell demos XX25 micro DMFC
C
alifornia-based UltraCell demonstrated a pre-production unit of its XX25 micro reformed methanol fuel cell 6
Fuel Cells Bulletin
system at the recent Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco. The company anticipates beta testing of the XX25 – designed for the military – later this year, as well as a commercial version, the UltraCell UC25. The company’s XX25 and UC25 methanol micro fuel cell systems will be able to run a laptop computer in a typical duty cycle for up to 14 h on a single methanol fuel cartridge, which it anticipates selling for less than $4 each. In addition, the military XX25 portable power source will significantly lower the total weight carried on extended missions, as well as reduce operational costs and the logistic burden. Delivery of XX25 production samples for evaluation at the US Army’s CommunicationsElectronics Research, Development & Engineering Center (CERDEC) is slated for the second quarter [FCB, October]. UltraCell is currently initiating planning of beta testing of the UC25 with qualified commercial customers for the second half of 2006. UltraCell’s patented reformed methanol fuel cell (RMFC) system generates fuel-cell-ready hydrogen from a highly concentrated methanol solution. Founded in 2002, the company has an exclusive license with Lawrence Livermore National Labs for micro fuel cell technology. The company recently moved into a new facility to enable the transition from prototype manufacturing to volume production [FCB, February]. Contact: UltraCell Corporation, Livermore, California, USA. Tel: +1 925 455 9400, www.ultracellpower.com
Umicore, Solvay in JV to develop, supply MEAs
M
aterials technology company Umicore has reached agreement with Solvay, the chemical and pharma group, to create a new European joint venture for the research, development, production and sales of membraneelectrode assemblies and related materials for use in fuel cell applications. The 50:50 joint venture, called SolviCore, will be based at Umicore’s main R&D site in Hanau, Germany. It is expected to become fully operational on 1 July, and will employ 34 people in the first stage of its development. The parent companies will continue their respective activities in catalysts and membranes in full ownership, outside of SolviCore. Umicore and Solvay, with leading global positions in precious metal catalysts and polymer membrane technology, respectively, aim to play a major role in this emerging technology. The joint
venture will assemble electrocatalysts with polymer membranes to develop and manufacture MEAs. ‘Umicore and Solvay’s strengths are very complementary, and this creates the opportunity to progress much faster than we could have on our own,’ says Thomas Leysen, CEO of Umicore. Contact: Umicore AG – Fuel Cells, Hanau, Germany. Tel: +49 6181 595432, www.fuelcells.umicore.com Or contact: Solvay SA, Brussels, Belgium. Tel: +32 2 5096 111, www.solvay.com
Pacific Fuel Cell delivers nanoMEAs, expands Bourns collaboration
I
n California, Pacific Fuel Cell Corporation has delivered production-scale prototype nanoMEAs to an undisclosed customer. The delivered prototypes were produced in conjunction with its collaborative manufacturer, Bourns Inc, headquartered in Riverside. The Bourns team, working with the PFCE’s scientific staff, successfully engineered the latter’s innovative process for making nanoMEAs to commercial scale. Based on the success of their development efforts, the partners are discussing an increase in the scope and intensity of their collaborative efforts [FCB, January]. The Bourns team combined its strength in engineering and process development with PFCE’s proprietary technology to produce the prototype nanoMEAs. PFCE is a nanotechnology firm committed to developing and producing carbon nanomaterial-based membrane-electrode assemblies with reduced cost and higher performance for fuel cells in the portable and micro fuel cell market. Contact: Pacific Fuel Cell Corporation, Tustin, California, USA. Tel: +1 714 564 1693, www.pfce.net Or contact: Bourns Inc, Riverside, California, USA. Tel: 1 877 426 8767 (tollfree in US), www.bourns.com
DPoint licenses Ballard humidification technology
V
ancouver-based DPoint Technologies, a privately held developer of fuel cell humidification products, has entered into a long-term license agreement with near-neighbor Ballard Power Systems relating to the latter’s humidification technology. Under the license agreement, DPoint has the rights to Ballard’s humidification patents and
May 2006
FCBMay
14/06/2006
09:53
Page 7
NEWS humidifier designs. The Ballard technology involves an innovative planar membrane humidifier design and materials that have a significant cost and size advantage over other humidification technologies. This humidification technology has been successfully used in the Ballard Nexa® power module over the past four years. DPoint based its recently launched Dx5 (3–10 kW) humidifier, for the backup power and light mobility markets, on the Nexa 1.2 kW humidifier design. ‘The team from Ballard that designed this low-cost technology did an outstanding job identifying a membrane that is a fraction of the cost of fluorinated membranes, and designing the product for manufacturability using high-volume plastic injection molding,’ says James Dean, president/CEO of DPoint. Contact: DPoint Technologies Inc, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Tel: +1 604 488 1132, www.dpoint.ca Or contact: Ballard Power Systems Inc, Burnaby, BC, Canada. Tel: +1 604 454 0900, ww.ballard.com
USC, Rice on bacterial fuel cells for tiny drones
A
diverse team of microbiologists, engineers and geochemists from the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles and Rice University in Houston, Texas are joining forces to create bacteria-powered fuel cells that could power palm-sized spy drones. The US Air Force has long been interested in micro-scale air vehicles, but has been stymied by the lack of a suitably compact power source. With $4.4m from the Department of Defense’s Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative, the USC/Rice research team hopes to prove its concept valid within five years by producing a self-propelled prototype. At Rice, geochemist Andreas Lüttge will spearhead the team’s efforts to understand how the bacteria Shewanella oneidensis attach to and interact with anode surfaces inside the fuel cell. To optimize its design, the team must understand how bacteria transfer electrons to anode surfaces under a variety of conditions. ‘There are three primary components in the system: the bacteria, the surface and the solution that the bacteria are digesting,’ explains Lüttge. ‘Any change in one variable will affect the other two, and what we want to do is find out how to tweak each one to optimize the performance of the whole system.’ Lüttge’s participation in the program grew out of a decade-long collaboration with principal investigator Kenneth Nealson, professor of earth sciences and biological sciences at USC. Nealson
May 2006
helped pioneer modern geobiology, and the investigation of the genetic pathways that some microbes rely on to maintain their respiratory metabolism in oxygen-poor environments. One such bacterium, Shewanella oneidensis, uses metals instead of oxygen to fully metabolize its food. ‘Since this organism is capable of passing electrons directly to solid metal oxides, it is not particularly surprising that it can do the same to the anode of the fuel cell, and since we are already in the business of understanding and optimizing the metal reduction capacity, it seemed a reasonable step to apply the same approaches to understanding current production,’ says Nealson. ‘What is new here is the incorporation of colleagues in chemistry, geology, engineering and evolutionary biology to optimize the entire system, not just the bacteria.’ Lüttge will use computer models to estimate how the bacteria will behave under different circumstances. Computer testing will save time and money by allowing lab experiments to focus on the best candidates. In addition to the modeling, Lüttge will use vertical scanning interferometry to resolve features down to 1 nm. Previously he used the imaging technique to examine how the cigarshaped Shewanella attach themselves to crystalline surfaces. The researchers found that Shewanella would lay flat and orient themselves relative to minute defects in the crystal’s surface. Contact: Professor Andreas Lüttge, Department of Earth Science, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA. Tel: +1 713 348 6304, Email: [email protected], www.ruf.rice.edu/~aluttge Or contact: Professor Kenneth H. Nealson, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA. Tel: +1 213 821 2271, Email: [email protected], www.usc.edu/dept/earth/ people/faculty/nealson.html
UTC, Van Hool to market fuel cell buses in Europe
U
S-based UTC Power is working with Belgian bus manufacturer Van Hool to deliver a fuel cell-powered bus to DeLijn, the largest bus fleet operator in Belgium. The bus will operate there for six months before being leased to other transit agencies in Europe. ‘We believe ‘try-before-you-buy’ lease opportunities will accelerate sales of these zero-emission buses equipped with our PureMotion™ 120 fuel cells,’ says Jan van Dokkum, president of UTC Power, part of United Technologies Corporation. ‘Similar Van Hool buses with our fuel cell system are in revenue service today at AC Transit and
SunLine Transit Agency operations in Oakland and Palm Springs, California’ [see page 3]. The two companies hope to advance the use of fuel cell hybrid-electric technology by building a demonstration bus for the European market. ‘And we will do that without compromising any of the Van Hool bus features which have been embraced by major international customers,’ says Leopold Van Hool, managing director of the bus builder. The UTC Power PEM fuel cell system delivers up to 120 kW of electric power, and is easily integrated into other heavy-duty hybrid vehicles. The product’s modular design also ensures ease of maintenance, maximizing operating time. Contact: UTC Power, South Windsor, Connecticut, USA. Tel: +1 860 727 2200, www.utcpower.com Or contact: Van Hool NV, Lier Koningshooikt, Belgium. Tel: +32 3 420 2020, www.vanhool.be
EWI, Millennium Cell link on joining technology for fuel cartridge
N
ew Jersey-based Millennium Cell has signed a contract with EWI – formerly the Edison Welding Institute – in Ohio for a 15-month project to improve the manufacturing process for Millennium Cell’s Hydrogen on Demand® fuel cartridges. The work is being funded under a National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS)/ Department of Energy program with the objective of improving the manufacturability of hydrogen storage technologies. Millennium Cell is leading a team comprising Dow Chemical, EWI and NextEnergy which will focus on developing critical manufacturing technologies that reduce the overall process and product costs of hydrogen storage technology for near-term implementation in portable power applications. Under the agreement, EWI is tasked with the development of joining technologies for key fuel storage vessels within the fuel cartridges. ‘This award is validation that manufacturability, particularly materials joining, is an enabling technology for cost reduction in both fuel cells and hydrogen storage,’ says Stan Ream, fuel cell technology leader at EWI.
Contact: Millennium Cell Inc, Eatontown, New Jersey, USA. Tel: +1 732 542 4000, www.millenniumcell.com Or contact: EWI, Columbus, Ohio, USA. Tel: +1 614 688 5000, www.ewi.org
Fuel Cells Bulletin
7
14/06/2006
09:53
Page 6
NEWS Because traditional fuels are expensive in Japan, and because DFCs can generate high-efficiency electricity on renewables like ADG, they hold an important competitive advantage in the Japanese market. There are approximately 200 sites in Japan that produce sufficient ADG to generate 250 kWe or more from DFC power plants. Contact: FuelCell Energy Inc, Danbury, Connecticut, USA. Tel: +1 203 825 6000, www.fuelcellenergy.com Or contact: Marubeni Corporation, New Energies Team, Utility & Infrastructure Division, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Tel: +81 3 3282 3943, www.marubeni.co.jp Or contact: Japan Institute of Wastewater Engineering Technology, Toshima-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Tel: +81 3 5951 1331, www.jiwet.or.jp
Architectural alliance to reinvent H2 stations
T
he Connecticut architectural firm AG/ENA has formed the ARRC/H2 Alliance, a multi-company initiative to conceptually develop AG/ENA’s innovative design for a prototype Hydrogen Fueling Station/Information Center. The ARRC/H2 Alliance, comprising Shell Hydrogen, Hydrogenics, Frey-Moss, Forum Lighting, Signstrut Milwaukee and AG/ENA, recently launched the project at the Center for Architecture in New York. Six consulting firms are providing services to the Alliance, and there are plans to add more members. Envisioned in a park-like setting, the Alliance’s prototype hydrogen station features a unique, one-way circular traffic pattern that enables drivers to gain quick and easy access to fueling dispensers and safer, more convenient access to retail spaces. Other innovations include environmentally sustainable construction – such as the use of recycled materials, water and energy efficiencies, reduced site disturbance and other sustainable features. The design will also incorporate an information center displaying a hydrogen car and exhibits to foster public understanding and acceptance of hydrogen fuels.
Contact: ARRC/H2 Alliance, c/o AG/ENA, New Canaan, Connecticut, USA. Tel: +1 203 966 4910, www.arrch2alliance.com
UltraCell demos XX25 micro DMFC
C
alifornia-based UltraCell demonstrated a pre-production unit of its XX25 micro reformed methanol fuel cell 6
Fuel Cells Bulletin
system at the recent Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco. The company anticipates beta testing of the XX25 – designed for the military – later this year, as well as a commercial version, the UltraCell UC25. The company’s XX25 and UC25 methanol micro fuel cell systems will be able to run a laptop computer in a typical duty cycle for up to 14 h on a single methanol fuel cartridge, which it anticipates selling for less than $4 each. In addition, the military XX25 portable power source will significantly lower the total weight carried on extended missions, as well as reduce operational costs and the logistic burden. Delivery of XX25 production samples for evaluation at the US Army’s CommunicationsElectronics Research, Development & Engineering Center (CERDEC) is slated for the second quarter [FCB, October]. UltraCell is currently initiating planning of beta testing of the UC25 with qualified commercial customers for the second half of 2006. UltraCell’s patented reformed methanol fuel cell (RMFC) system generates fuel-cell-ready hydrogen from a highly concentrated methanol solution. Founded in 2002, the company has an exclusive license with Lawrence Livermore National Labs for micro fuel cell technology. The company recently moved into a new facility to enable the transition from prototype manufacturing to volume production [FCB, February]. Contact: UltraCell Corporation, Livermore, California, USA. Tel: +1 925 455 9400, www.ultracellpower.com
Umicore, Solvay in JV to develop, supply MEAs
M
aterials technology company Umicore has reached agreement with Solvay, the chemical and pharma group, to create a new European joint venture for the research, development, production and sales of membraneelectrode assemblies and related materials for use in fuel cell applications. The 50:50 joint venture, called SolviCore, will be based at Umicore’s main R&D site in Hanau, Germany. It is expected to become fully operational on 1 July, and will employ 34 people in the first stage of its development. The parent companies will continue their respective activities in catalysts and membranes in full ownership, outside of SolviCore. Umicore and Solvay, with leading global positions in precious metal catalysts and polymer membrane technology, respectively, aim to play a major role in this emerging technology. The joint
venture will assemble electrocatalysts with polymer membranes to develop and manufacture MEAs. ‘Umicore and Solvay’s strengths are very complementary, and this creates the opportunity to progress much faster than we could have on our own,’ says Thomas Leysen, CEO of Umicore. Contact: Umicore AG – Fuel Cells, Hanau, Germany. Tel: +49 6181 595432, www.fuelcells.umicore.com Or contact: Solvay SA, Brussels, Belgium. Tel: +32 2 5096 111, www.solvay.com
Pacific Fuel Cell delivers nanoMEAs, expands Bourns collaboration
I
n California, Pacific Fuel Cell Corporation has delivered production-scale prototype nanoMEAs to an undisclosed customer. The delivered prototypes were produced in conjunction with its collaborative manufacturer, Bourns Inc, headquartered in Riverside. The Bourns team, working with the PFCE’s scientific staff, successfully engineered the latter’s innovative process for making nanoMEAs to commercial scale. Based on the success of their development efforts, the partners are discussing an increase in the scope and intensity of their collaborative efforts [FCB, January]. The Bourns team combined its strength in engineering and process development with PFCE’s proprietary technology to produce the prototype nanoMEAs. PFCE is a nanotechnology firm committed to developing and producing carbon nanomaterial-based membrane-electrode assemblies with reduced cost and higher performance for fuel cells in the portable and micro fuel cell market. Contact: Pacific Fuel Cell Corporation, Tustin, California, USA. Tel: +1 714 564 1693, www.pfce.net Or contact: Bourns Inc, Riverside, California, USA. Tel: 1 877 426 8767 (tollfree in US), www.bourns.com
DPoint licenses Ballard humidification technology
V
ancouver-based DPoint Technologies, a privately held developer of fuel cell humidification products, has entered into a long-term license agreement with near-neighbor Ballard Power Systems relating to the latter’s humidification technology. Under the license agreement, DPoint has the rights to Ballard’s humidification patents and
May 2006
FCBMay
14/06/2006
09:53
Page 7
NEWS humidifier designs. The Ballard technology involves an innovative planar membrane humidifier design and materials that have a significant cost and size advantage over other humidification technologies. This humidification technology has been successfully used in the Ballard Nexa® power module over the past four years. DPoint based its recently launched Dx5 (3–10 kW) humidifier, for the backup power and light mobility markets, on the Nexa 1.2 kW humidifier design. ‘The team from Ballard that designed this low-cost technology did an outstanding job identifying a membrane that is a fraction of the cost of fluorinated membranes, and designing the product for manufacturability using high-volume plastic injection molding,’ says James Dean, president/CEO of DPoint. Contact: DPoint Technologies Inc, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Tel: +1 604 488 1132, www.dpoint.ca Or contact: Ballard Power Systems Inc, Burnaby, BC, Canada. Tel: +1 604 454 0900, ww.ballard.com
USC, Rice on bacterial fuel cells for tiny drones
A
diverse team of microbiologists, engineers and geochemists from the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles and Rice University in Houston, Texas are joining forces to create bacteria-powered fuel cells that could power palm-sized spy drones. The US Air Force has long been interested in micro-scale air vehicles, but has been stymied by the lack of a suitably compact power source. With $4.4m from the Department of Defense’s Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative, the USC/Rice research team hopes to prove its concept valid within five years by producing a self-propelled prototype. At Rice, geochemist Andreas Lüttge will spearhead the team’s efforts to understand how the bacteria Shewanella oneidensis attach to and interact with anode surfaces inside the fuel cell. To optimize its design, the team must understand how bacteria transfer electrons to anode surfaces under a variety of conditions. ‘There are three primary components in the system: the bacteria, the surface and the solution that the bacteria are digesting,’ explains Lüttge. ‘Any change in one variable will affect the other two, and what we want to do is find out how to tweak each one to optimize the performance of the whole system.’ Lüttge’s participation in the program grew out of a decade-long collaboration with principal investigator Kenneth Nealson, professor of earth sciences and biological sciences at USC. Nealson
May 2006
helped pioneer modern geobiology, and the investigation of the genetic pathways that some microbes rely on to maintain their respiratory metabolism in oxygen-poor environments. One such bacterium, Shewanella oneidensis, uses metals instead of oxygen to fully metabolize its food. ‘Since this organism is capable of passing electrons directly to solid metal oxides, it is not particularly surprising that it can do the same to the anode of the fuel cell, and since we are already in the business of understanding and optimizing the metal reduction capacity, it seemed a reasonable step to apply the same approaches to understanding current production,’ says Nealson. ‘What is new here is the incorporation of colleagues in chemistry, geology, engineering and evolutionary biology to optimize the entire system, not just the bacteria.’ Lüttge will use computer models to estimate how the bacteria will behave under different circumstances. Computer testing will save time and money by allowing lab experiments to focus on the best candidates. In addition to the modeling, Lüttge will use vertical scanning interferometry to resolve features down to 1 nm. Previously he used the imaging technique to examine how the cigarshaped Shewanella attach themselves to crystalline surfaces. The researchers found that Shewanella would lay flat and orient themselves relative to minute defects in the crystal’s surface. Contact: Professor Andreas Lüttge, Department of Earth Science, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA. Tel: +1 713 348 6304, Email: [email protected], www.ruf.rice.edu/~aluttge Or contact: Professor Kenneth H. Nealson, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA. Tel: +1 213 821 2271, Email: [email protected], www.usc.edu/dept/earth/ people/faculty/nealson.html
UTC, Van Hool to market fuel cell buses in Europe
U
S-based UTC Power is working with Belgian bus manufacturer Van Hool to deliver a fuel cell-powered bus to DeLijn, the largest bus fleet operator in Belgium. The bus will operate there for six months before being leased to other transit agencies in Europe. ‘We believe ‘try-before-you-buy’ lease opportunities will accelerate sales of these zero-emission buses equipped with our PureMotion™ 120 fuel cells,’ says Jan van Dokkum, president of UTC Power, part of United Technologies Corporation. ‘Similar Van Hool buses with our fuel cell system are in revenue service today at AC Transit and
SunLine Transit Agency operations in Oakland and Palm Springs, California’ [see page 3]. The two companies hope to advance the use of fuel cell hybrid-electric technology by building a demonstration bus for the European market. ‘And we will do that without compromising any of the Van Hool bus features which have been embraced by major international customers,’ says Leopold Van Hool, managing director of the bus builder. The UTC Power PEM fuel cell system delivers up to 120 kW of electric power, and is easily integrated into other heavy-duty hybrid vehicles. The product’s modular design also ensures ease of maintenance, maximizing operating time. Contact: UTC Power, South Windsor, Connecticut, USA. Tel: +1 860 727 2200, www.utcpower.com Or contact: Van Hool NV, Lier Koningshooikt, Belgium. Tel: +32 3 420 2020, www.vanhool.be
EWI, Millennium Cell link on joining technology for fuel cartridge
N
ew Jersey-based Millennium Cell has signed a contract with EWI – formerly the Edison Welding Institute – in Ohio for a 15-month project to improve the manufacturing process for Millennium Cell’s Hydrogen on Demand® fuel cartridges. The work is being funded under a National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS)/ Department of Energy program with the objective of improving the manufacturability of hydrogen storage technologies. Millennium Cell is leading a team comprising Dow Chemical, EWI and NextEnergy which will focus on developing critical manufacturing technologies that reduce the overall process and product costs of hydrogen storage technology for near-term implementation in portable power applications. Under the agreement, EWI is tasked with the development of joining technologies for key fuel storage vessels within the fuel cartridges. ‘This award is validation that manufacturability, particularly materials joining, is an enabling technology for cost reduction in both fuel cells and hydrogen storage,’ says Stan Ream, fuel cell technology leader at EWI.
Contact: Millennium Cell Inc, Eatontown, New Jersey, USA. Tel: +1 732 542 4000, www.millenniumcell.com Or contact: EWI, Columbus, Ohio, USA. Tel: +1 614 688 5000, www.ewi.org
Fuel Cells Bulletin
7